See Rock City

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Chronology Of The Sears Modern Home Program

1895–1900Building supplies are sold through Sears, Roebuck and Company general catalog 1906
Sears considered closing its unprofitable building supplies department
Frank
W. Kushel (formerly manager of the china department) took over the
building supplies department and realizes supplies can be shipped
directly from the factory, thus saving storage costs1908First
specialty catalog issued for houses, Book of Modern Homes and Building
Plans, featuring 22 styles ranging in price from $650–2,5001909Mansfield, LA, lumber mill purchased
First bill of materials sold for complete Modern Home1910Home designers added gas and electric light fixtures1911Cairo, IL, lumber mill opens
First mortgage loan issued (typically 5–15 years at 6% interest)1912Norwood, OH, millwork plant purchased1913Mortgages transferred to credit committee
Mortgages later discontinued1916Mortgages revived
Ready-made production began
The popular “Winona” introduced; featured in catalogs through 1940
First applied roofing office opened in Dayton, OH1917–21No-money-down financing offered1918Standard Oil Company purchased 192 houses for its mineworkers in Carlinville, IL (approximately $1 million)1919First Modern Homes sales office opened in Akron, OH
Modern Homes catalog featured the Standard Oil housing community1920Philadelphia plant became the East Coast base
Sears averaged nearly 125 units shipped per month1921Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton sales offices opened1922Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington sales offices opened
Honor Bilt homes feature deluxe kitchens, with white-tile sink and drain boards and white, enameled cupboards1924Columbus, OH, sales office opened1925Detroit sales office opened; Philadelphia became East branch of Modern Homes
Newark, NJ, lumber mill began1926Cairo, IL, plant ships 324 units in one month (May)
Honor
Bilt homes featuring “Air-Sealed-Wall construction,” which enclosed
every room with a “sealed air space” to increase insulation1929Sears began supervising the construction of homes
Sears shipping an average of 250 units per month just from Cairo, IL
Nearly 49,000 units sold to this point
Program’s
high point of sales reached ($12,050,000); nearly half, however, are
tied up in mortgage loans as the stock market crashes1930Sears had 350 different sales people working in 48 sales offices
Home specialty catalog proclaims Sears the “World’s Largest Home Builders”1933Mortgage financing discontinued
Construction supervision abandoned, except in greater New York City
Modern Homes catalog featured models of Mount Vernon and New York City’s Federal Hall.1934Annual Report announced the Modern Homes department was discontinued
All mortgage accounts were liquidated ($11 million)
Steel-framed, air-conditioned Modern Home exhibit featured at the Century of Progress World’s Fair1935Sears reopened the house department
Offered only houses, no financing or construction.
Houses were prefabricated by General Houses, Incorporated (Chicago)1936Sales reached $2 million1937Sales reached $3.5 million
Last appearance of department in the general catalog.1938Sales reached $2.75 million1940Cairo, IL, millwork plant sold to the employees who used their profit-sharing money to make the purchase
Last
catalog issued (Book of Modern Homes). Sears ends Modern Homes program,
having sold more than 100,000 units, not including cabins, cottages,
garages, outhouses, and farm buildings.